


Flipping the bird to God and the Devil

by aroseandapen



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Resurrection, brief bugs crawling over the skin imagery, ghost au, kairochi, previous death, twins au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-19 04:15:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29869020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aroseandapen/pseuds/aroseandapen
Summary: If it seems too good to be true...After meeting someone who promises a ritual that can bind the dead back to life, Kaito figures that he and Kurochi don't have much left to lose. As it turns out, however, there is much to lose still.For the Bad Things Happen bingo: Good intentions, bad results
Relationships: Momota Kaito/Original Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Flipping the bird to God and the Devil

“I… don’t know about this Kaito.”

“Hey, relax, it’ll be ok. You trust me, right?”

Guilt flooded Kurochi’s expression and he lowered his head. Instantly Kaito felt bad; he hadn’t meant to make it sound like Kurochi was doing anything wrong by being cautious.

“That came out wrong,” he said, quick to try and amend what he caused. “I mean, I know you trust me already, nothing wrong with worrying about it. It’s kinda too good to be true, right?”

Kurochi lifted his face. “Yeah. It is.”

Kaito nodded. “I get it, trust me. But I have a good feeling about this. I mean, what do you got to lose, right? You’re already… I mean, you know…”

“I’m already dead,” Kurochi said, in such a monotone that Kaito winced at how little emotion he put behind his statement.

“Y-yeah. Right, yeah.” Kaito rubbed the back of his head, before shaking his fears away. He infused himself with energy, every bit of enthusiasm the coming miracle deserved. “But not for long! Not after this, so just relax and let me take care of the rest.”

At the very least, Kurochi’s worries seemed eased by Kaito’s confidence, whether deserved or not. He dipped his head, smiling shyly. “Ok. I trust you, Kaito.”

It wasn’t news to him, but Kaito’s cheeks still flared hot at the sweet earnestness with which Kurochi spoke. He coughed, turning his head. “Of course. Yeah, I know,” he said, unable to come up with a proper response to Kurochi’s honesty. “Alright… let’s get started then.”

The smile faded from Kurochi’s face. He nodded, drifting closer so that he was within arm’s reach of Kaito. The air between them crackled with anxiety. Although Kaito projected confidence, he didn’t actually know if the ritual or whatever he was given would actually work. He hoped it would. At the very least, if anything went wrong, Kurochi was already dead. It couldn’t get worse.

He cleared his throat, even though he recognized that he was just stalling at that point. Then, with only the occasional glance down at the notes he’d prepared and practiced repeatedly over the last week, he began the process in a low murmur. A faint glow ran through Kurochi’s form.

“Oh!” Kurochi gasped in surprise, twisting in the air. He whispered, not trying to interrupt Kaito, “It tingles.”

As the ritual continued, the glow intensified. A low hum started, and it took Kaito a minute to realize that it wasn’t Kurochi humming. It came from around them, but he didn’t have enough attention to devote to figuring out where exactly the source was.

The space beneath his fingers grew thick and syrupy. Kaito’s heart jumped, both excited and anxious as he forced himself to continue with the words recited so many times that he barely had to think of it. He didn’t know if that meant it was working or if something had gone wrong. All he could do was hope that it meant Kurochi was growing more solid.

Then, suddenly Kurochi dropped to the floor with a thunk, still partially transparent; Kaito’s breath caught in his throat right at the end of his chant.

And Kurochi wrenched out a blood-curdling scream.

Kaito recoiled, yanking his hands away and nearly tumbling onto his back. He stared, wide-eyed as Kurochi writhed in obvious agony that didn’t end as his body grew fully solid. But still the agony didn’t end. He leaned over Kurochi, dropping a hand onto his forehead, already slick with sweat, to push away the damp tangled strands of hair. Worry and awe tore him in two--for the first time he could actually, physically touch Kurochi.

But what was happening now?

“Kurochi?” he called to no response but further screaming. “Hey! Kurochi!”

No response. Kaito didn’t know if Kurochi could even hear him amongst the haze of pain.

Then, with a sudden rasping gasp, he fell silent. Kurochi’s body went limp, head rolling against the floor.

“Shit. Shit shit _ shit _ !”

Kaito grabbed Kurochi, pulling him closer and dipping down to hover his ear above Kurochi’s open mouth. Faintly, he felt--and  _ heard _ \--Kurochi’s breath pass his lips. He pressed two fingers to the pulse point of Kurochi’s neck, and felt it throb beneath his finger pads. Kurochi was  _ alive _ . Unconscious, sure, but he was alive.

Now how did Kaito wake him up?

He carefully slid his arms underneath Kurochi and lifted him into the air. supporting his neck and letting Kurochi’s legs dangle over his other arm. Kurochi didn’t react to anything Kaito did. It made his heart thud anxiously, but he forced himself to shove it from his thoughts. He had to stay optimistic about this, for Kurochi’s sake and Kokichi’s, too.

He carried Kurochi up the stairs, back to the room that was Kurochi’s old childhood room. It would help, he hoped, for Kaito to surround Kurochi in as many familiar objects as possible. He laid Kurochi onto the bed, arranging the pillow beneath his neck, and picked up the old stuffed raccoon toy to tuck it under one of Kurochi’s arms. When Kurochi woke up, Kaito wanted him to be comfortable.

Because he would wake up. The ritual had gotten them this far; it already proved its own efficacy.

It was just a matter of time, now, before Kurochi awoke to a new life.

\----

Two days later, Kurochi was still unconscious.

Kaito had just barely managed to keep his fears at bay, but now his anxieties were beginning to skyrocket. No matter what he did, it seemed, Kurochi wouldn’t wake up. But he had to eat, he had to drink water now that he was alive. He couldn’t do that if he stayed as he was now. In a matter of days, he would die again, possibly this time without a ghost to retry the resurrection. Which at this point Kaito was starting to see as a fake.

He gnawed on the eraser of his pencil. If he had to, he could take Kurochi to a hospital. He just didn’t know how on earth to explain the situation, or how much the doctor’s would be able to treat a guy with the identity of a dead person. It could complicate things, and if they couldn’t keep Kurochi alive, if he died again in the hospital,  _ and _ if Kurochi came back as a ghost? Then he would haunt the hospital, and Kaito could never save him for real.

The best thing to do was to march back to that shady stall he’d gotten the instructions from and demand both a refund and for them to help him fix it. However, when he’d gone there directly after setting Kurochi in bed, they’d been nowhere to be found. They’d swindled him and took off, no doubt.

He was so preoccupied with his thoughts, he didn’t realize that class had ended, and most of the students had already filed out. Nor did he see anyone approach, until they slammed their hands on his desk.

Kaito jumped and hollered.

Himiko jumped and squeaked.

“Wh--?” Kaito shook his head to clear it. “Himiko? What the hell was that?”

“I-I was just…” She looked exceedingly fragile, with her tiny stature and oversized witch hat that seemed to highlight how small she was. For an instant, Kaito felt bad for startling her.

Then he remembered that she was the one who’d tried to startle him.

She took a second longer to gather herself before she finally managed to explain. “G-geez I thought that would be a lot… cooler… if I did that a-and you… nyeh.”

He fixed her with an incredulous look.

“No, not the scaring you part, the--.”

“I wasn’t scared,” he interrupted.

She bobbed her head absently, the hat slipping further over her forehead. “Right, right yeah, I mean…” Himiko cleared her throat. “You did something bad, didn’t you?”

His brain immediately leapt to Kurochi. He quickly tore his thoughts away; there was no way she could know about that. “Like what?”

“Um… I don’t know.” Himiko linked her hands behind her back, swaying. Before he could accuse her of fishing, she said, “It’s, um, hard to explain. It’s like you got this dark magic energy thing hanging on you--like B.O. but with magic. Yeah. It’s bad. So… what did you do?”

Kaito was reeling from her explanation. He didn’t have time to gather himself before Himiko gasped.

“Wait! You didn’t really do a necromancy, did you?!” she exclaimed.

Kaito lunged forward over his desk, making her emit a little ‘eep!’ before he clapped both hands over her mouth. He threw a glance around the classroom--damn, when had the place emptied out? Him and Himiko were the only two left. Slowly, he withdrew his hands and sat back in his seat.

“Dammit, keep it down, would you?”

Himiko raised a hand to her gaping mouth, eyes wide and bugged. “You did,” she breathed in utter disbelief. “When you asked me--. How  _ could _ you?! I told you it was a bad idea! Non-mages especially shouldn’t mess with this sort of thing."

Although she scolded him, Kaito realized something far more important than her reprimand. He realized that she knew her stuff. Like really, really did, and not for pretend, assuming she could actually tell what he had done. Pressing his palms down into the surface of his desk, he pushed himself onto his feet, leaning forward to speak in a low voice.

“I did. I’m not gonna apologize for it, because… because goddammit he deserves a second chance!” He punctuated the statement by punching his desk. “You don’t get it. I  _ had _ to try. No matter what it cost, I  _ had _ to do it.”

She opened her mouth, but he cut across her response.

“Wait! I get that it wasn’t good, but…” What did it matter though, if Kurochi was unconscious and creeping closer toward a second death by the day? He leaned even closer, beseeching. “Listen, please help me. Come with me, he… it didn’t go right. He’s alive but he hasn’t woken up since I did the ritual thing. I have to fix this, please.”

Himiko’s jaw hung open. After a minute of saying nothing, she clicked it closed. Lips pressed together, her face paled. She looked like she was going to be sick. Hesitant, she searched his pleading face, and eventually she groaned softly, covering her eyes with the heels of her hands.

“O-ok, ok,” she whispered. “I’ll come look.”

Kaito whooped, snatching up her hands to shake them vigorously. “Great! Thank you so much!”

Himiko frowned. “I’m not making any promises. I don’t do taboo arts like this. But… I can come look at him at least.”

It was better than nothing; Kaito was grateful all the same. Kokichi probably wouldn’t appreciate another person finding out about his twin brother’s existence, but he figured that if everything went well, they would find out about him either way. More importantly, Kurochi needed help.

“No worries. Just do what you can for him, alright?”

\------

Feeling a bit like he was betraying the twins, even with the necessity of the situation, Kaito brought Himiko to the house. He led her up the stairs, into Kurochi’s room… The moment she reached the door and peered inside, she gasped.

“Nyeh?! Isn’t that Kokichi?!” Himiko recoiled from the unconscious boy, holding her hand up as if in defense. Her face warped into distrust of him. “A-are you trying to trick me?”

Kaito shook his head hard. “It’s not, I swear--look. I’ll explain what I can later, please help me out with this first.”

Himiko hesitated, eyeing him warily. Kaito’s heart lodged itself in his throat.

“ _ Please _ .”

The desperation in his tone, voice tearing raggedly from his throat, convinced her. Her hands dropped by her sides, shoulders slumped. She nodded.

“Alright, alright, I’ll help you then.” She clicked her tongue, bringing a finger up to her chin as she stared down at Kurochi. “If he was really a ghost, you shouldn’t have tried to bring him back. It’s wrong, you know. If he wakes up on his own he’ll probably be in tons of pain forever. He’ll probably ask to die again.”

Kaito’s chest constricted. “The person… they said it’d help--no, isn’t there anything I can do?!”

“That’s what you get for trusting someone who’s not the Ultimate Mage! Geez, haven’t you ever heard of con artists before?” Her tone was disapproving, finger wagging, but her face twisted in sympathy for them. She hesitantly approached the bed and brushed her hand over Kurochi’s face. The boy didn’t even twitch as she pushed his hair back from his face. “There’s… something maybe. I don’t know if it will work, I’ve never done it before.”

“I’ll do it! Anything!” he exclaimed. It couldn’t possibly be worse than this.

Himiko chewed her lower lip. “Well… you could go inside his brain and pull him out. If I support you with my magic, he might not be in pain when he wakes up… maybe.”

He nodded. The ‘maybe’ scared him with its uncertainty, but it was better than this. It was better than certain excruciating pain followed by death. He owed both Kurochi and Kokichi his best efforts to fix what he’d caused. “Tell me how.”

\--------

Kaito sat on the floor, his back to the bed. It wasn’t the most comfortable position, the wooden frame digging into his spine, but he didn’t pay it much mind. This was the closest he could get to the sleeping boy’s head without actually getting on the bed. He didn’t mind laying next to him while they did this, but Himiko had advised against it. The bed was too small for the two of them, and Kaito could easily crush Kurochi without meaning to.

“I’ve never done this before,” Himiko admitted, standing over Kaito with her hands linked behind her back. “I dunno if this’ll be bad for you or anything.”

“I don’t care,” Kaito said without hesitation. “I need to try.”

Himiko nodded slowly, but her strained expression said that she couldn’t relate to his conviction. “O...kay then. Just try not to get hurt or anything in there. That’d be bad. Probably. I think.”

He couldn’t imagine what was going on inside Kurochi’s head that would need him to be conscious, but he nodded anyway. “Right.”

She still looked hesitant, anxious about doing something that she confessed to having never done before. Finally though, she sighed, and hovered her hands above his head. “Alright, then, close your eyes. Here goes nothing.”

He did so. She chanted something under her breath, but that sound soon faded. The ground beneath him, the bed behind him, the soft breathing of Kurochi near him, all sensation drained into nothing, and he was floating away.

Kaito opened his eyes to a foggy plain.

Turning his head, he tried to get a sense of his surroundings, but the oppressive haze blocked out anything more than a foot ahead of him. Lifting his hand, his fingers disappeared when he stretched his arm out to full length. He quickly dropped it, unnerved.

“Hello? Anyone around? Kurochi?” he called out, only for his voice to be swallowed by the fog.

Nobody answered.

Recalling Himiko’s warning, he supposed he should be grateful nothing did. He’d just have to find Kurochi on his own.

With that, he started walking. The ground was hazy beneath his feet, with not even a crunch to tip him off as to what sort of surface he walked on, and he didn’t bother to stoop down to test it out. As long as there was ground at all, it was fine. He didn’t particularly know what it meant to supposedly be in Kurochi’s head, only for a fog to cover everything like this. He didn’t know if he was going the right way, or if it mattered which way he walked in the first place. All he could do was forge on ahead and hope it worked out alright.

The fog suddenly dissipated, leaving a large house standing in the middle of the wasteland before him. It looked vaguely like the building that Kurochi haunted, but taller and darker, twisted and looming high over Kaito. It seemed to lean, the wood creaking out threats to collapse directly on his head. That looked like his destination.

He padded over grey, cracked earth. When he touched his palm to the front door, his hand plunged straight through it. He lost balance, flopping down into the entryway of the house.

If this wasn’t a dream, the fall would’ve knocked the wind right out of him.

Kaito huffed, rubbing the side of his head as he looked up. His gaze landed on Kurochi, and his eyes widened. He scrambled to his feet.

“Kurochi!” he called out, but the other lay still on his back, stiffened like one of the floorboards. Kaito lurched forward to close the distance between them.

His knees hit the floor; he braced his hands on the ground, leaning over Kurochi.

“Hey? Kurochi! Wake up!”

It was ironic to be saying that to someone already unconscious. Yet when he moved his hand to lightly touch his cheek, Kurochi’s lashes fluttered. His eyes cracked open, meeting Kaito’s eyes.

Kurochi parted his lips, mouthed Kaito’s name. Before he could make a sound, however, the floor beneath him turned impossibly black. His eyes flew open as thick shadowy hands burst from the darkened floor.

“Kai--!” he cried, but a hand clapped over his mouth, silencing him and engulfing the lower half of his face. He screamed wordlessly into the obstruction. More hands burst forth, grabbing his legs, ankles, arms, almost every part of his body.

Fingers closed around Kurochi’s neck, choking off Kurochi’s cries. Kaito jumped to tear the hands away, but he felt only a little resistance before his own hands broke through the shadowy ones, and then they only reformed as if not disturbed at all.

Then, impossibly, they tightened around Kurochi’s body, pulling, straining, dragging him straight through the floorboards.

“Dammit! No! You!  _ Don’t _ !”

Kaito grasped Kurochi by the shoulders. If he couldn’t touch the hands themselves, then he would keep them from taking Kurochi. Strangled cries wrenched from Kurochi’s throat. Tears gathered in the corners of his eyes, until yet another pair of hands covered them from view. Kurochi jerked and convulsed, trying to get away from an enemy that was all over. And Kaito’s fingers only dug hard into Kurochi’s shoulders.

Kaito was hurting him.

The realization struck him cold, and he immediately released Kurochi. Holding him in place wasn’t working, he was just helping the shadow hands to tear the other into pieces. Then, as soon as Kaito let go, the hands yanked down, and Kurochi vanished straight through the floor. Not a trace of him was left behind.

Kaito’s heart pounded wildly in his chest. So fucking close! He’d nearly had Kurochi in his arms, but that terrifying sight had sucked him away without a trace. He pounded the floor with his fist. It didn’t give even an inch.

“Dammit! Hey, Kurochi! You hear me down there?!”

He lay on the floor, pressing his ear up against it. He heard nothing down beneath, not even Kurochi’s muffled cries. Kaito swore again under his breath, tears of frustration pricking his eyes.

Even though he wasn’t convinced that Kurochi could hear him, he called, “Don’t worry, I’m gonna get you out of here!”

Kaito lifted his head--and found he was no longer inside the house.

Once again he was out on the foggy plain, but it remained a good distance away in a circle. Just ahead, the giant mouth of a cave yawned up out of the ground. It was impossible to see into its dark depths. Naturally, Kaito thought this had to be the way he needed to go.

He pushed himself to his feet, dusted himself off, and headed into the cave.

Just inside the darkness, the ground fell away into a sharp decline. For all Kaito knew, it led into the depths of hell. In fact, considering the terrifying scene he’d witnessed just before this, he wouldn’t put it past Kurochi’s head to take them there. It was all imaginary, however, no matter how vivid, and so he steeled himself with that knowledge and began his descent.

Again unable to see much in any direction, Kaito had no sense of how far he’d walked, and he’d quickly lost track of the time he’d spent in the cave, in this entire nightmare. Both were meaningless measurements, he figured. For all he knew, only seconds had passed in the real world since he sunk into unconsciousness.

Then, like a switch was flipped and a spotlight popped on, his immediate surroundings were suddenly illuminated.

“Kurochi!” he exclaimed, and shot forward.

Kurochi hung from numerous strings attached all over his body. He saw a couple tied around his upper arms, constricting it in a way that looked painful. Kaito winced, seeing his arm bulge to either side. It was probably a small mercy that Kurochi seemed to be unconscious, although the string wrapped multiple times around his neck held his head upright. A lump formed in Kaito’s throat.

He grabbed the string attached to his neck first and yanked down. It snapped easily, and the rest unraveled, slipping away to reveal the dark red grooves they left in his skin. Kaito hissed sympathetically; that had to hurt.

Kaito snapped the rest of the strings. When Kurochi tumbled down, he stepped forward to catch him. Yet as soon as Kurochi touched him, he passed straight through Kaito’s arms to limply slam into the ground.

“What?”

“That one belongs to me,” a low, gravelly voice spoke. Kaito jumped, whirling around to face the man--person--creature, wrapped heavily in a shroud of shadow. “He stays here.”

Steeling himself, Kaito fully faced the mysterious figure before him. They gave off an intimidating air, but he wouldn’t back down. He couldn’t back down until he had Kurochi safe and sound in the living world again.

“No, I’m going to take him back.” Kaito tightened his hands into fists. “So, tough for you, but I’m gonna bring him with me no matter what.”

“No matter what?” the figure repeated. Although Kaito saw no discernible facial features, he felt as though they regarded him with a sharp gaze.

Kaito raised his fists in preparation. “Of course!”

Silence. Then, the figure flicked his wrist, index finger out. He sensed movement behind him.

Kaito whirled around on his heels.

Crumpled on the ground, Kurochi’s eyes opened. Kaito’s heart jump-started; he stepped towards him, but his excitement snuffed out immediately. While opened, Kurochi’s eyes were empty, not seeing anything before him. Then, as if lifted by an invisible force, his body rose from the ground. Then the force vanished, the weightlessness of his body sagged, and there he stood, listlessly staring ahead into infinity.

“What the hell did--?!”

Kaito spun back around, but before he could spit out his furious question, the figure cut him off with another wave of his hand.

“Since I’m feeling generous, we’ll make it a wager, hm?”

Kaito furrowed his brows, but said nothing. Suspicious.

“This one will follow you out of this cave, but do not look behind you or turn around at any point. Do that, and you may have him. Until Death comes again to return him to me.” Although he could not see any expressions the figure made, he seemed to smile. “And if you fail, then you both will give over your souls to me for eternity.”

He pressed his lips together. It sounded too easy; all he had to do was not look behind him. “What’s the catch?”

The impression of a sinister smile behind the haze never left the figure. “No catch. Seems a fair deal, no?"

“You’re on.” Kaito had already come this far. He said he’d do whatever it took to bring Kurochi back to consciousness, and he meant it.

The figure held out a hand. Their fingers seemed to crawl, stretching out impossibly long, but when he blinked it just looked like a normal hand. “Shall we shake on it?”

Kaito grasped it, squeezing tight as he gave it a firm pump. Then the weight against his palm disappeared; the figure dissolved into smoke, falling to the ground, spreading out along the cave floor to the edges of the spotlight. Then, lights out.

“Good luck,” came a hissing whisper from all directions, and the presence was gone. All he could feel was Kurochi standing behind him.

He wanted to glance back, to make sure he was still there, but he caught himself before he could. Idiot. Kaito had to get out of here; he couldn’t lose this bet so quickly.

“Come on, Kurochi. I’m going to get you out of here.”

No response.

Kaito had no option but to trust that the entity kept their end of the bargain, and that Kurochi would follow. He started forward, taking a few steps before he stopped and listened for the footsteps echoing after his. He heard nothing. Was Kurochi even  _ there _ anymore? He clenched his fists, and forced himself to continue.

One foot in front of the other, he made his way back to the mouth of the cave. At least, he thought so. He could see nothing, hear nothing, feel nothing--not even the ground he stood on. The lack of sensation pressed in on him from every angle, crushing him under the oppressive weight of  _ nothing _ . He thought the only thing that told him he was still moving forward was him forcing himself to walk, but he couldn’t even be sure of that anymore. Was he even still in the cave? Before, when he’d been in the house, it had vanished, too, and he was back outside when he lifted his head. What if that had happened here?

His skin began to crawl, just to  _ feel _ something. He shivered, scratching his arm at the sensation of bugs scuttling over his skin. His fingernails raked over his forearm, making the trails they left burn lightly, but there was nothing on him. That didn’t stop the chills from running down his spine; his imagination running far ahead of him.

If he could just talk to Kurochi, it wouldn’t be so bad.

“Hey, Kurochi? Can you hear me?” he asked, blinking in the darkness. However, he felt that if he turned around, he’d clearly see Kurochi if he was still there. “C’mon… talk to me.”

No answer. Kaito gritted his teeth; it felt like he’d been here for eternity already.

He kept walking forward.

Sobbing moans broke the silence.

They came from behind, echoing off the walls he couldn’t see. It took only a moment for him to identify them as Kurochi’s, and his blood ran ice cold. His first instinct was to turn around and comfort him.

He remained rooted in the spot. With all his strength, he pushed himself to continue onward.

“Hang in there, Kurochi, hang in there, we’re almost there.”

No response, and a few steps later the sobbing ceased. The sounds died so abruptly that after a while, Kaito wondered if they’d been real at all. It was just as likely that, just like the crawling-skin-sensation he’d had, his head made it up just to break the silence.

“ _ Kaito _ !” Kurochi’s voice screeched. It sounded far away, like the other had fallen behind. “Help!  _ Help _ !”

Kaito brought his palms to his ears, but he couldn’t block out the desperate screams for help. His heart raced, pounding in his throat. He couldn’t. He  _ couldn’t _ , but goddammit if Kurochi needed him, how could he ignore him?!

Ahead of him, a light opened up--the end of the cave.

Feeling like a vile person, with Kurochi screaming for help behind him, he took off in a run. He couldn’t see anything that he might trip over, but he didn’t care. He just had to get out of there, and they’d be home free, then he could turn around and help with anything that threatened Kurochi.

Kaito’s front foot crossed the threshold into the light.

Kurochi’s screams ceased.

Kaito passed out.

….

…

..

.

When he came to, he was back in Kurochi’s old room, Lil Bandit leaning against his thigh. At some point he’d crawled onto the bed, and his arms were wrapped around Kurochi’s limp form, hugging him tight to his chest. He lifted a hand to his face, surprised by the wetness on his cheeks. When had he started crying? When did he grab Kurochi like this?

Kurochi twitched and Kaito nearly dropped him. A soft groan dragged from his throat; Kaito lowered his head carefully to his lap, resting on the tops of his thighs. He brushed his fingers across Kurochi’s cheekbone, sweeping back a stray piece of hair.

Kurochi’s eyes weakly fluttered open. They were foggy and disoriented, but they managed to lock only Kaito’s anyway.

“K-Kaito?” he murmured faintly. He looked just about to pass out again. Kaito squeezed his shoulder, as if it would keep him awake.

“Hey there. How’re you feeling?” Kaito whispered. There was no reason to keep his voice down, but he did so anyway. It felt like there was a fragile spell cast between them, a tentative balance between a dream and reality. If he spoke too loudly, it seemed, it would all cruelly shatter and Kurochi would once again die, or slip unconscious, or become a spirit once again.

Kurochi fell silent, considering the question deeply. His gaze drifted up to the ceiling; he wiggled his fingers and, presumably, his toes. He shook his head, but his words contradicted that. “Yeah I think… I am. I’m…” He lifted his hand, stared at his fingers. “...alive?”

Kaito blew out a cautious sigh of relief. “Yeah.”

“Really? I… really am?”

“ _ Really _ .”

Kurochi blinked, his eyes flickering to meet Kaito’s. They held an indescribable amount of emotions--fear, disbelief, hope, to name a few. He searched Kaito’s eyes, and then, tentatively, touched his fingers to Kaito’s cheek. A whoosh of air pushed past his lips, carrying a bubbly giggle in it.

“Kaito I--.” He shook his head and struggled to sit up. Kaito helped him, keeping one arm behind his back.

“Nyeh, did it actually work?”

Himiko popped her head into the room and Kurochi shrieked. His body seized up, jerking away, but he didn’t have the strength to lift himself and so he pressed hard against Kaito’s chest. He gasped for air, clinging to Kaito as tightly as he could. She shrieked too, retreating from the doorway as quickly as she’d come.

Kaito brushed his hand over the back of his head, murmuring, “It’s ok, it’s fine, this is my classmate. She helped me when it… when things went wrong.”

Gradually, Kurochi’s tense muscles loosened. He uncurled his fingers from Kaito’s shirt, and peered cautiously from his hiding spot against his chest. His gaze first lifted to meet his, then he weakly turned his head back to the now-empty doorway.

When he saw that Kurochi had significantly calmed, he called, “Yo, Himiko, you can come back! He was just startled is all!”

She was too, evidently, because it took a while for her to reappear, skittish as she shuffled into the room. Her eyes locked onto Kurochi’s face, and she paled like she’d seen a ghost.

Which, frankly, was rude, because Kurochi was no longer a ghost.

“Who is he anyway? Why’s he look so much like Kokichi?” she asked, bringing back up her questions from earlier, which Kaito had brushed off in the heat of the moment. Even now, he didn’t particularly feel like talking about it.

So he just wouldn’t. He waved her off, shaking his head.

“Ask me later. After all this, I’m fucking exhausted, so I’ll tell you some other time.”

Himiko made a face. “You promise?”

“Promise.” It was the least Kaito could do after she literally helped save Kurochi’s life. He glanced down at the door in his lap. “Hey, Kurochi, do you mind if I crash here a bit before I head home? I don’t think I’d make it with how tired I am right now.”

Again Kurochi looked up at him, before quickly averting his gaze with a faint dusting of red spreading across his cheeks. He nodded. “Yeah. Of course you can.”

Kaito beamed.

Everything turned out well after all. Later, he could ask Kurochi if he remembered any of the scenes Kaito saw inside his head, and perhaps he could get some more insight on what the hell the twins went through in the process.

“If you want, Himiko, you can go. I’ll talk to you later.” Kaito yawned. “I’ll explain everything then.”

He gathered Kurochi up in his arms, and made the other boy squeak as he stretched out along the bed. He wrapped his arms fully around Kurochi, hugging him tightly to him; if he woke up after his nap with Kurochi gone, he didn’t think he could handle it. Kurochi breathed in sharply, but didn’t try and push away from his chest.

“Is this fine? I just…”

Kaito trailed off. He didn’t know how to explain.

Kurochi seemed to understand anyway. He tucked his face into Kaito’s chest, breathing softly as he relaxed into the embrace.

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

Relieved, Kaito closed his eyes, reassured by the warmth of Kurochi’s body. He was alive. He was really, really alive.

Just before he fell asleep, however, a pathetic whine emitted from Kurochi, and he shuddered in Kaito's arms. He opened his eyes, glancing down at him inquisitively. Kurochi's breathing was labored, shivers running through his body.

And he realized that Kurochi had been unconscious for two full days.

"Shit--Kurochi!"

He released Kurochi, scrambling out of bed. Kurochi's eyes cracked open, a mixture of fear and confusion staring up at Kaito.

"You need food--and water! Why didn't you say anything? Dammit, if you're not feeling good you need to tell me! I'm such an idiot."

Kurochi was silent for a moment, before murmuring to the pillow, "Oh... I forgot about that... stuff." His voice cracked.

Kaito slapped a hand over his forehead. Of course. Kurochi hadn't lived for years now; it wasn't surprising if he thought the pains were just from being alive again. This was all on Kaito.

"Right. My bad. You hang out here--I'm going to get you something light to eat, some water, and _then_ we can take a nap."

A tentative smile curled his lips.

"Mm-hm... thank you, Kaito..."


End file.
